Self-latching hinge

ABSTRACT

A self-latching hinge includes a roller-biasing wire spring retained against the knuckles of one hinge leaf by ears formed from incompletely curled portions of the bearing sleeves of that leaf and by tabs extending parallel to the leaf attachment plate and bent forwardly into a plane parallel with the ears.

United States Patent 1191 Smith 1 Mar. 27, 1973 SELF-LATCHING HINGE 3,255,484 6/1966 MacD61a1l ..16/18O 1 3,568,241 3/1971 Ufiner ..l6/l42 [75] Inventor f Smith Los Angeles Cahf' 3,577,840 5 1971 Buberniak ..16/142 [73] Assignee: Jaybee Manufacturing Corp., Los 3,431,587 3/1969 Bereznak ..16/145 Angeles, Calif. 3,381,332 5/1968 Jerila et a1. ..l6/180 X [22] Flled: Sept 1971 Primaiy ExaminerFrancis K. Zugel [21] Appl. No: 180,746 Assistant ExaminerPeter A. Aschenbrenner Attorney-Flam & Flam [52] US. Cl. ..l6/l42, 16/180, 16/14 5 Y 511 Int. Cl. ..E05d 11/08 [57] ABSTRACT [58] Field of Search ..l6/ 142, 145, 139, 180, 184, A self-latching hinge includes a roller-biasing wire l6/185 V spi'ing retained against the knuckles of one hinge leaf v by ears formed from incompletely curled portions of [56] References Clted the bearing sleeves of that leaf and by tabs extending P t0 the leaf attachment plate and bent forwardly into a plane parallel with the ears. 3,391,42Q 7/1968 Anderson.. ...16/142 X 3,629,899 12/1971 Deadrick", 16/ 142 9 Claims 4 Drawing Figures I 35 2 I i V 1 3 1 1 1 l f I 52 1 1 3/ i dda -i 30 2 '36 '1 I f I H [3 45 1- I I I l I I 1 I2 I I x 1 1 1 SELF-LATCHING HINGE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to self-latching hinges, and particularly to such a hinge wherein a pressure roller is biased by a wire spring retained by separate ears and tabs formed integral with one hinge leaf.

2. Description of the Prior Art Self-latching hinges have gained wide spread acceptance in the building industry for the installation of cabinet doors and the like. Such hinges include a spring biased latching mechanism which retains the cabinet door closed without the need for a separate latch. Thus use of self-latching hinges not only does away with the cost of the latch hardware itself, but also eliminates the even greater labor expense associated with installation of the latch.

Various self-latching hinge constructions are known in the prior art. In general, a spring biased roller or wedge element incorporated in one hinge leaf presses against a notched hinge pin bearing sleeve on the other leaf. Thus as the hinge members are rotated toward the door-closing position, the roller or wedge is biased closed. Some effort is required to open the. hinge against this biasing force.

One type of prior art self-latching hinge is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,255,484 to MacDonald. Therein a cylindrical roller is supported on a wire spring the ends of which are doubled back to increase the force exerted by the spring. This springmember seats against the two spaced knuckles of the hinge leaf attached to the door frame, and is held in place by a pair of ears extending from the back plate of that leaf. The roller cooperates witha notch formed in the bearing sleeve of the other against the bearing sleeve notch edge to force the hinge hinge leafQA separate spring cover is required to hide the roller and spring assembly from external view.

Hinges of the type just described suffer severalshortcomirigs. First, the need for a decorative cover complicates assembly and hence increases hinge cost. Moreover, the spring wire sections extending from either side of the roller tend to slip out from the front of the ears retaining the spring. This is so because as the hinge is opened, a component of force is exerted on the roller by the notch edge in a direction away from the leaf knuckles. This force component is in just the proper direction to work the spring out from under the ears. Further, the ears must be relatively long to cover both the front and rear spring wire sections, and will exhibit some inherent flexure. Thus even if the spring is not actually dislodged, the above mentioned force component will tend to push the spring away from the leaf knuckles, against the flexing ears, and out of the plane in which maximum hinge-closing force is exerted by the roller. As a result, the latching capability of the hinge is impaired.

It is an object of the present invention to. provide an improved self-latching hinge which overcomes these and other shortcomings of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The foregoing object of the invention is accomplished by providing a self-latching hinge in which the forward legs of the roller-biasing spring are retained against knuckles of one hinge leaf by ears extending BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A detailed description of the invention will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings which are to scale.

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of the inventive selflatching hinge, shown in the closed position.

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the hinge of FIG. 1, as seen generally along the line 2--2 thereof, a cabinet door and frame being shown in phantom.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view showing the ears and tabs supporting the pressure roller and spring assembly;

the view is taken generally along the 3-3 of FIG. 2, but V with the hinge shown in an open position. v

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the hinge leaf to which the roller and spring assembly is attached.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The following detailed description is of the best presently contemplated mode of carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely'for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention since the scope of the invention best is defined by the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a selflatching hinge 10 in accordance with the present invention. The hinge 10 includes a first hinge leaf ll pivotallyconnected to a second hinge leaf 12 by means of 'a hinge pin 13. As illustrated in FIG. 2, and the hinge l0 advantageously may be used to attach a cabinet door 14 or the like to a door frame member -15. The hinge 10 functions to maintain the door 14 closed without the need for separate latch hardware.

The door 14 may be fastened to the hinge 10 by the use of screws 16 extending through the openings 17 in an attachment plate 18 forming part of the hinge leaf 1]. Extending from one edge of the plate 18 is an offset section 19 of generally L-shaped cross-section which seats within the recessed edge 14a of the door 14. The hinge leaf 11 also includes a spaced pair of hinge knuckles 21, 22 which project forwardly of the plate 18 from the end of the offset section 19. The terminal ends of the knuckles 21, 22 are curled to form a pair of spaced, coaxially aligned bearing sleeves 23, 24 which receive the hinge pin 13.

The hinge leaf 12 includes a decorative back plate 26 which may befastened to the door frame 15 by means of screws 27 extending through a pair of mounting holes 28. Extending forwardly from the back plate 26 is a single hinge knuckle 29 the terminal end of which is curled to form a bearing sleeve 30. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the bearing sleeve 30 is situated between, and in coaxially alignment with the sleeves 23, 24 of the other hinge leaf 1 1, so as to engage the central section of the hinge pin 13.

The central portion of the sleeve 30 (FIGS. 2 and 3) does not completely encircle the hinge pin 13, but rather defines a notch 31 having a notch edge 32 parallel to the hinge pin 13. As explained below, the sleeve 30 and notch 3l'cooperate with a cylindrical pressure roller 34 mounted on a unitary wire spring 35 to perform the latching functioning.

The roller 34 (FIG. 3), which may be fabricated of a hard plastic material, surrounds the central section 36 of the spring 35. The wire portions of the spring 35 extending in either direction from the central section 36 define forward legs 37, 38 the ends of which are doubled back to define rear legs 39, 40. This shape results in a spring 35 capable of exerting considerable biasing force on the roller 34.

The spring 35 is retained in place against the hinge knuckles 21, 22 by means of a pair of ears 42, 43 and a pair of tabs 44, 45 (FIGS. 3 and 4) integral with the hinge leaf 1 1. A portion of each bearing sleeve 23, 24 is incompletely curled to form the ears 42, 43 in a plane substantially parallel to the hinge knuckles 21, 22 and spaced therefrom by a distance approximately equal to spring forward legs 37, 38.

The tabs 44, 45 comprise segments of the hinge leaf 35 to work loose or become dislodged. Moreover, the ears 42, 43 function to insure that the spring 35 will remain firmly within the plane producing maximum force against the notch edge 32 of the leaf member 12.

The roller 34 and a portion of the spring wire central section 35 can be seen through the space 46 between the hinge knuckles 21 and 22. However, in the conventional installation (FIG. 2) the edge 14b of the door 14 will hide both the opening 46 and the roller 34 from external view. As there is no opening in the hinge leaf 12 attached to the door frame 15, use of the hinge results in an aesthetically pleasing installation.

Thus the inventive self-latching hinge 10 is not only attractive, but due to the action of the novel bearing sleeve projecting ears 42, 43 provides a hinge of signifi- 11 extending from theoffset section 19 in a direction parallel to the attachment plate 18. The terminal ends 44a, 45a of the tabs 44, 45 are bent forwardly of the attachment plate 18, in a plane substantially parallel to that defined by the ears 42, 43. Thus the tabends 44a, 45a also are spaced from the hinge knuckles 21, 22 by a distance equal to the thickness of the wire forming the spring 35. The tabs 44, 45 respectively retain in place the spring rear legs 39, 40.

With this arrangement, the spring 35 is maintained firmly in a plane substantially parallel to the hinge pin 13. Thus the force produced by the spring 35 is exerted in just the direction necessary to maximize the latching capability of the hinge 10.

When the hinge 10 is open (FIG. 3), the roller 34 bears against the exterior surface a of the sleeve 30, thereby compressing the spring 35. As the door 14 and hinge 10-are rotated toward the closed position (FIG. 2), the roller 34 begins to engage the notch '31. When this occurs, the force of the spring presses the roller 34 against the notch edge 32 to force the hinge 10 into the latched position. The pressure exerted by the spring 35 and roller 34 against the notch 31 thereafter maintains the hinge closed. Subsequently, the hinge 10 may be opened by rotating the door 14 and the hinge leaf 11 with sufficient effort to overcome the latching force" of the spring 35.

As the hinge leaf 1 l is rotated from the closed to the open position, a component of force is exerted on the roller 34 and on the spring 35 in a direction generally parallel to the attachment plate 18, and toward the right as viewed in FIG. 2. This force tends to lift the forward legs 37, 38 away from the respective knuckles 21, 22. In the prior art, this force tended to work the rollerbiasing spring loose from under the single pair of retaining ears. However, in the present invention, the

ears 42, 43 projecting from the bearing sleeves 23, 24 6 firmly maintain the spring forward legs 37, 38 against the knuckles 21, 22. There is no tendency for the spring cantly improved characteristics, yet which has a minimum of components and is inexpensive to fabricate.

Intending to claim all novel, useful and unobvious features shown or described, the applicant claims:

1. A self-latching hinge comprising:

first and second hinge leaves,

a hinge pin,

a cylindrical roller,

a unitary wire spring having a central section extending through said roller, and having forward legs extending in opposite directions from said central section and doubled back to define rear legs,

said first hinge leaf being unitary and including;

a plate for attachment to a door or the like,

a spaced pair of knuckles projecting forwardly of i said attachment plate,

the terminal end of each knuckle being curled to form a bearing sleeve, said sleeves being coaxially aligned and receiving said hinge pin,

a portion of each sleeve being incompletely curled and extending rearwardly in generally spaced parallel relationship with a respective knuckle to form an ear retaining a respective forward leg of said spring,

a spaced pair of tabs extending generally parallel to said plate from adjacent the rear ends of said spaced knuckles, the terminal end of each tab being bent forwardly of said plate into generally coplanar relationship with said ears to retain a respective rear leg of said spring,

said second hinge leaf being unitary and including;

an attachment portion for mounting said hinge to a door frame or the like,

a single knuckle extending forwardly of said attachment portion,

the terminal end of said single knuckle being curled to form a bearing sleeve situated between the sleeves of said first hinge leaf and also receiving said hinge pin,

said single knuckle bearing sleeve having a notch,

said spring forcing said roller into said notch as said first hinge leaf is rotated toward a closed position in which said plate is substantially parallel to said attachment portion.

2. A self-latching hinge according to claim 1 wherein said first hinge leaf further includes an offset section of generally L-shaped cross-section situated betweensaid plate and said spaced pair of knuckles.

3. A self-latching hinge according to claim 2 wherein said offset section includes a first portion extending at a right angle from said plate and a second portion perpendicular to said first portion, said spaced pair of knuckles extending at slightly greater than a right angle from said second portion, said tabs extending from and coplanar with said second portion between said pair of knuckles.

4. A self-latching hinge according to claim 3 wherein the length of said notch is greater than the length of said roller but less than the length of said single knuckle.

5. A selflatching hinge of the type having a pair of hinge leaves pivotally connected by a hinge pin, one of said hinge leaves having a spaced pair of knuckles the terminal ends of which are curled to form bearing sleeves, said hinge having a doubled back unitary wire roller-biasing spring retained against the knuckles of said one hinge leaf by ears projecting rearwardly from the bearing sleeves of said leaf and by tabs extending parallel to the leaf attachment plate and bent forwardly into a plane parallel to said ears. g

6. A self-latching hinge according to claim 5 wherein a portion of each bearing sleeve is incompletely curled to form said ears.

7. A self-latching hinge according to claim 5 wherein said one leaf includes an offset section having first and second portions disposed at right angles, said first portion extending perpendicularly to said attachment plate, said knucklesextending perpendicularly to said second portion, said tabs extending from and coplanar with said second portion between said knuckles.

8. A self-latching hinge according to claim 7 including a cylindrical roller supported by the central section of said unitary wire spring, the forward legs of said spring extending from said central section being retained against said knuckles by said ears, the doubled back rear legs of said spring being retained by said tabs.

9. A self-latching hinge according to claim 8-wherein the other hinge leaf has a notched bearing sleeve disposed between said spaced knuckles, said hinge pin engaging the bearing sleeves of both leaves to facilitate the pivotal connection of said leaves, said spring-biased roller cooperatively engaging said notched bearing sleeve to facilitate latching of said hinge. 

1. A self-latching hinge comprising: first and second hinge leaves, a hinge pin, a cylindrical roller, a unitary wire spring having a central section extending through said roller, and having forward legs extending in opposite directions from said central section and doubled back to define rear legs, said first hinge leaf being unitary and including; a plate for attachment to a door or the like, a spaced pair of knuckles projecting forwardly of said attachment plate, the terminal end of each knuckle being curled to form a bearing sleeve, said sleeves being coaxially aligned and receiving said hinge pin, a portion of each sleeve being incompletely curled and extending rearwardly in generally spaced parallel relationship with a respective knuckle to form an ear retaining a respective forward leg of said spring, a spaced pair of tabs extending generally parallel to said plate from adjacent the rear ends of said spaced knuckles, the terminal end of each tab being bent forwardly of said plate into generally coplanar relationship with said ears to retain a respective rear leg of said spring, said second hinge leaf being unitary and including; an attachment portion for mounting said hinge to a door frame or the like, a single knuckle extending forwardly of said attachment portion, the terminal end of said single knuckle being curled to form a bearing sleeve situated between the sleeves of said first hinge leaf and also receiving said hinge pin, said single knuckle bearing sleeve having a notch, said spring forcing said roller into said notch as said first hinge leaf is rotated toward a closed position in which said plate is substantially parallel to said attachment portion.
 2. A self-latching hinge according to claim 1 wherein said first hinge leaf further includes an offset section of generally L-shaped cross-section situated between said plate and said spaced pair of knuckles.
 3. A self-latching hinge according to claim 2 wherein said offset section includes a first portion extending at a right angle from said plate and a second portion perpendicular to said first portion, said spaced pair of knuckles extending at slightly greater than a right angle from said second portion, said tabs extending from and coplanar with said second portion between said pair of knuckles.
 4. A self-latching hinge according to claim 3 wherein the length of said notch is greater than the length of said roller but less than the length of said single knuckle.
 5. A self-latching hinge of the type having a pair of hinge leaves pivotally connected by a hinge pin, one of said hinge leaves having a spaced pair of knuckles the terminal ends of which are curled to form bearing sleeves, said hinge having a doubled back unitary wire roller-biasing spring retained against the knuckles of said one hinge leaf by ears projecting rearwardly from the bearing sleeves of said leaf and by tabs extending parallel to the leaf attachment plate and bent forwardly into a plane parallel to said ears.
 6. A self-latching hinge according to claim 5 wherein a portion of each bearing sleeve is incompletely curled to form said ears.
 7. A self-latching hinge according to claim 5 wherein said one leaf includes an offset section having first and second portions disposed at right angles, said first portion extending perpendicularly to said attachment plate, said knuckles extending perpendicularly to said second portion, said tabs extending from and coplanar with said second portion between said knuckles.
 8. A self-latching hinge according to claim 7 including a cylindrical roller supported by the central section of said unitary wire spring, the forward legs of said spring extending from said central section being retained against said knuckles by said ears, the doubled back rear legs of said spring being retained by said tabs.
 9. A self-latching hinge according to claim 8 wherein the other hinge leaf has a notched bearing sleevE disposed between said spaced knuckles, said hinge pin engaging the bearing sleeves of both leaves to facilitate the pivotal connection of said leaves, said spring-biased roller cooperatively engaging said notched bearing sleeve to facilitate latching of said hinge. 